Still Time For Agents to Win Hawai‘i Trip

Hawai‘i Tourism Canada has teamed up with WestJet Vacations on a Hawai‘i vacation contest that has a grand prize that will award a lucky travel agent a trip for two to Hawai‘i that includes return flights courtesy of WestJet Vacations and a five-night stay at the Aston Kaanapali Shores on Maui, Hawai‘i.

Colin Wood, account director for Hawai’i Tourism Canada, has high praise for Hawai‘i Tourism Canada’s partners in the contest, declaring that WestJet has “tons of flights” from this country to Hawai‘i and that WestJet Vacations’ collection of Hawaiian properties is “exemplary.”

Wood promises that Hawai’i vacations never need to be the same, thanks to the state’s remarkable diversity, showcased by the dramatic differences that can be seen from island to island.

“If people are not familiar with Hawai‘i they might think of it as kind of a single destination,” Wood concedes. “That’s just not the case. Every island is a little different. They are all distinct destinations.”

Hawai‘i is always popular with Canadian vacationers, attracting over 518,000 of us last year. The island of Maui, in particular, is popular with Canadians, with Wood speculating its popularity in part results from many of us having bought homes there long ago and then relaying to other Canadians how beautiful it is. Canadians actually buck a Hawai‘i trend, with most visitors to the state opting to vacation in O‘ahu, home to Honolulu and its legendary Waikīkī Beach.

Honolulu serves as a cultural hub for Hawai‘i, Wood reports.

Wood believes that BC and Alberta at one time accounted for 75% of all Canadian visitations to Hawai‘i. But that figure is changing, he says, with those two provinces now likely accounting for 65% to 70% of Canadian visits as Hawai‘i makes inroads in Quebec and Ontario.